Since I grew up YEARS before interactive social media was invented...some things just didn't occur to me...but the world we live in now, where social media is SUCH an important aspect of our lives, (how did we ever live without it...oh yeah...we ACTUALLY had conversations with people face to face or over the telephone..and then we all got together once in awhile to view "family slides" projected onto a screen or a wall to see vacation pictures), everything is changing...even death.
It would NEVER have occurred to me that what happens to a social media page after one dies would matter--I assumed a family member petitioned the social media site to have it taken down (of course anyone could have left their password information on their computer for a loved one to find who could have then done what they wished with the page...but that of course would be a violation of the site's users policy...someone actually READ the user policy and is now going to abide by it??).
But it now appears that this issue will be increasingly important (though not to me...sorry folks I don't see my "tweets," FB posts. or these blogs as a part of any legacy I wanted to leave...I have no delusions...these are just a more simplistic way for more people to have access--I don't assume that more people DESIRE it..I'm merely adding to the overflow). To that end, the link below will take you to an article that announces that Facebook is about to make a major announcement about what COULD happen to your social media sites upon your death:
Who Manages Your Facebook When You Die?
Me? "Frankly Scarlet, I don't...." To me there is something that seems a little morbid, or morose about an interactive social media page that cannot possibly be "interactive." Since my citizenship is not here (on earth), and I am just a sojourner passing through, the life I have lived here won't seem nearly as important as we think it is.
It would seem odd for me, who has lived the vast majority of my life, for another place to care deeply about what this place thought after I died. I have nearly always felt like an outsider (in one sense or another) here--C.S. Lewis though that meant that we were meant for someplace else--if he was right, I don't much care what happens on Facebook when I get to the Aslan's world!
I believe...help my unbelief.
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Learning about Church from a Beer Company
Recently I was able to watch the History channel miniseries "Sons of Liberty." (I did not see it air on commercial TV because I don't have commercial TV..so I had to wait for another option). I had read about it online, and being a history "buff" I was interested to see how it would be presented. I must confess that I was a little disappointed in the show itself but something happened that I was not expecting.
Since I don't have commercial TV--I have NO idea what commercials ran originally with the program. However, I did know that the Boston Beer Company (most famous for creating "Samuel Adams Boston Lager") was sponsoring the show. On my Roku app, that I used to view the series, there were only three "commercial" sponsors, and it soon became self evident that the Boston Beer Company was the primary participant. Even on Roku there were 4-6 "breaks"...each break was "headlined" by a Boston Beer Company product.
By now you might be thinking I became very thirsty while watching (for the record--to date I've never consumed a Boston Beer Company beverage)--but instead I will confess that I became enamored...with a commercial. After two straight nights of being bombarded by this commercial I had to know more. I was infatuated...NOT with the product that they were selling...but with the lifestyle that they were suggesting. In vain I scoured the internet to find the video...I could not...so I did what any cheap entrepreneur would do...I used my smart phone to digitize it---so the quality and the clarity are a little off from digital quality..but I now have a copy. Take a look and tell me what you see:
First let me tell you a bit about The Boston Brewing Company:
The video above is not a commercial for their products as much as it is a statement of how they became who they are--which in turn is a commercial for their products.
MUCH digital ink has been spilled in the past few years about the "millennials" and how they are leaving the "traditional" church and how most of them who are Christians are more interested in starting new ministries/congregations instead of dealing with the old leftovers that previous generations (who didn't see things their way) left to be "fixed"--because it is clear that by and large it is dysfunctional.
Jesus, in two different places in Matthew's gospel, chastises the Jewish leaders of his time for knowing certain signs but being completely oblivious to the "sign" that was standing before them (cf. Matthew 12:38-42 and 16:1-4) while it would take up too much space to deal with these passages in depth--suffice it to say that Jesus departed from them without further signs--if they could not see the truth RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM then it is doubtful further indications are needed.
A QUESTION: has the Church become too much like them? Is there something THAT HUGE that we have missed? The Church, in all of its glory, was never, and can never be about a particular age group or generation--but what if the way we THOUGHT was right has been a mistake all along? Even if just PARTS of it were off the mark--we need to readjust our thinking. And THAT is why I LOVE this video!!! It is a BRILLIANT piece of work (it doesn't make me want to buy beer, but it does make me think about MANY things!) So allow me to "tear it apart" and put it back together for you.
Exegeting the Video:
1). It speaks volumes that they choose a female voice for the voice over (ask yourself why that might be important).
2). Listen closely to the dialogue--it is really just a laundry list of their beliefs:
"we take our best friends to work"--this speaks to their preferred "relaxed" work environment
"every day is casual Friday"--authoritarianism, legalism, and rules do NOT make for a happy workplace.
"we take our beer seriously...not ourselves"--loosen up, it's life, no one gets out alive--but there are things that demand our attention--and when those come around we take them VERY seriously.
"we brew beer WE want to drink"--if we like it (20-30 somethings) then it stands to reason that ALL 20-30 somethings will like it--not the hint of unison and commonality in this thought.
"our own standard"--we don't need others to tell us what we like
"we share our passion for beer"--those things that are important...we are PASSIONATE about--they consume us!!
"we share our beer with our friends"--we share our passion with our friends because we want them to be passionate about what we are passionate about.
3). Note it all ends in a happy "family: moment (it reminds me of the theme song of the popular 80's sitcom "Cheers"--a bar... "where everybody know your name...and they're always glad you came..."
4). Could the implication be that we are doing our best to survive in a world that is going downhill fast so we need to "own" (but not "possess") whatever we can...that is to say...to make it our own?
THE END...
Watch the video again---every place they say the word "beer"--in your mind hear the word "Jesus"--write it down if you need to. Once you understand this...you will begin to understand the world that we are called to reach. Now think...what methods work the best. I am NOT saying that they are always right...but I am saying we have work to do Church. Let's get busy.
I believe...help me in my unbelief.
Since I don't have commercial TV--I have NO idea what commercials ran originally with the program. However, I did know that the Boston Beer Company (most famous for creating "Samuel Adams Boston Lager") was sponsoring the show. On my Roku app, that I used to view the series, there were only three "commercial" sponsors, and it soon became self evident that the Boston Beer Company was the primary participant. Even on Roku there were 4-6 "breaks"...each break was "headlined" by a Boston Beer Company product.
By now you might be thinking I became very thirsty while watching (for the record--to date I've never consumed a Boston Beer Company beverage)--but instead I will confess that I became enamored...with a commercial. After two straight nights of being bombarded by this commercial I had to know more. I was infatuated...NOT with the product that they were selling...but with the lifestyle that they were suggesting. In vain I scoured the internet to find the video...I could not...so I did what any cheap entrepreneur would do...I used my smart phone to digitize it---so the quality and the clarity are a little off from digital quality..but I now have a copy. Take a look and tell me what you see:
First let me tell you a bit about The Boston Brewing Company:
- They were founded in 1984 by three friends from Harvard.
- One, Jim Koch, was from a line of brewers (I assume, from the name, German brewmeisters)
- Jim cooked up the first ever batch of Sam Adams Boston Lager in his kitchen.
- In March 1995 The B.B.C. introduced its Samuel Adams Boston Lager for the retail market.
- In June '95 (THREE MONTHS!!) Sam Adams was voted BEST BEER IN AMERICA at the Great American Beer Festival with over 90 companies competing.
- Since then it has consistently been ranked among the top American beers in the "U.S. Craft Beer Movement." (based on sales and volume).
- In 2013 They employed 1,200 people in three factories (Boston, Cincy, and Breinissville, PA).
The video above is not a commercial for their products as much as it is a statement of how they became who they are--which in turn is a commercial for their products.
MUCH digital ink has been spilled in the past few years about the "millennials" and how they are leaving the "traditional" church and how most of them who are Christians are more interested in starting new ministries/congregations instead of dealing with the old leftovers that previous generations (who didn't see things their way) left to be "fixed"--because it is clear that by and large it is dysfunctional.
Jesus, in two different places in Matthew's gospel, chastises the Jewish leaders of his time for knowing certain signs but being completely oblivious to the "sign" that was standing before them (cf. Matthew 12:38-42 and 16:1-4) while it would take up too much space to deal with these passages in depth--suffice it to say that Jesus departed from them without further signs--if they could not see the truth RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM then it is doubtful further indications are needed.
A QUESTION: has the Church become too much like them? Is there something THAT HUGE that we have missed? The Church, in all of its glory, was never, and can never be about a particular age group or generation--but what if the way we THOUGHT was right has been a mistake all along? Even if just PARTS of it were off the mark--we need to readjust our thinking. And THAT is why I LOVE this video!!! It is a BRILLIANT piece of work (it doesn't make me want to buy beer, but it does make me think about MANY things!) So allow me to "tear it apart" and put it back together for you.
Exegeting the Video:
1). It speaks volumes that they choose a female voice for the voice over (ask yourself why that might be important).
2). Listen closely to the dialogue--it is really just a laundry list of their beliefs:
"we take our best friends to work"--this speaks to their preferred "relaxed" work environment
"every day is casual Friday"--authoritarianism, legalism, and rules do NOT make for a happy workplace.
"we take our beer seriously...not ourselves"--loosen up, it's life, no one gets out alive--but there are things that demand our attention--and when those come around we take them VERY seriously.
"we brew beer WE want to drink"--if we like it (20-30 somethings) then it stands to reason that ALL 20-30 somethings will like it--not the hint of unison and commonality in this thought.
"our own standard"--we don't need others to tell us what we like
"we share our passion for beer"--those things that are important...we are PASSIONATE about--they consume us!!
"we share our beer with our friends"--we share our passion with our friends because we want them to be passionate about what we are passionate about.
3). Note it all ends in a happy "family: moment (it reminds me of the theme song of the popular 80's sitcom "Cheers"--a bar... "where everybody know your name...and they're always glad you came..."
4). Could the implication be that we are doing our best to survive in a world that is going downhill fast so we need to "own" (but not "possess") whatever we can...that is to say...to make it our own?
THE END...
Watch the video again---every place they say the word "beer"--in your mind hear the word "Jesus"--write it down if you need to. Once you understand this...you will begin to understand the world that we are called to reach. Now think...what methods work the best. I am NOT saying that they are always right...but I am saying we have work to do Church. Let's get busy.
I believe...help me in my unbelief.
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